Insulin Resistance and Diabetes

Is this just another weird side affect or could it be diabetes?

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:22:40 +0000

Last month I had heart surgery, and ever since I’ve noticed changes in my appetite and what I want to eat, and drink. I used to basically live on pop(Dr Pepper mostly) ate burgers & fries often. I was majorly lacking in fruits, vegetables, even water. The healthiest thing I would eat was the occasional salad. Since the surgery its been Salads, fruits, veggies, chicken, juice, tea, and water. I do sometime still have a pop and some candy here and there. Its not all extremely healthy but its what I am now craving. I have insulin resistance and have had for at least 10 years. I am on glucophage for treatment of it. The last week or so I have noticed that I’ll get up and eat if I stick to the healthy stuff and take my gluc as prescribed I’m fine. But as soon as I eat any candy or have a pop I get light headed, nausea, and eventually get a headache. Now I am drinking a lot more than I used to but that started right after the surgery and is not continuing to increase. Any ideas?
I agree the bad stuff makes you drag a bit…but I’m having a major affect like enough to make me go lay down because I’m sick from just 1 pop(which I can’t even get halfway thru a can of because I feel ill from) or about 10 M&M’s.

You’ve grown up. You have some very serious health problems, and you are finally living the way you need to live to get healthier and stay healthier.

Eating crap makes you feel like crap. Once you get off the junk food, you really notice how bad it makes you feel. With insulin resistence anything with sugar or a lot of white flour will make your blood sugar climb.

When you were eating it all the time you didn’t notice how sluggish, tired, and crappy it made you feel.

Now you do.

Stick with the healthy stuff, your body needs and craves it.

I suggest you get tested for diabetes, because of the problems you are having processing sugar. Ask your doctor to do an HbA1c test. It should be below 5.5%.

Good luck!

Is "insulin resistance" the same as Diabetes?

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:28:16 +0000

I was recently diagnosed with "Insulin Resistance". I want to know if it is the same as being Diabetic??? if not, what is the difference?

Type 2 Diabetes is essentially extreme insulin resistance.

It is possible to have insulin resistance that fall short of diabetes.

Insulin resistance is when your cells respond less and less to insulin so you need more and more to do the same job. Your pancreas responds by making more insulin. When it reaches the point your pancreas can no longer make enough to keep up, that is type 2 diabetes.

Can a person have BOTH untreated hypoglycemia and undiagnosed diabetes?

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:27:33 +0000

Doc is doing a fasting blood sugar Monday to test for diabetes–but I’ve been told before I may be hypoglycemic…

Aren’t they opposite? It seems as though hypoglycemia may occur if taking diabetes medication, but I am not.

How can the coexist untreated???
To The Orange Evil: Thanks for helping out with my Q’s.

Based on these, do you think I could be diabetic? Test on Monday…but worrying NOW.

Great question. When a person is an early staged diabetic or heading towards diabetes, the pancreas still retains quite a bit of function. What happens is that the person’s blood sugar shoots up very high after eating because they have a slightly impaired insulin response. (In true non-diabetics, there’s enough circulating insulin and phase 1 insulin to keep blood sugar from ever going too high.) In a full-blown diabetic, the pancreas wouldn’t be able to supply enough insulin to bring levels down quickly. In a person who still has a powerhouse of a pancreas, the pancreas senses the soaring blood glucose levels and pumps out a ton of insulin. That results in a severe and rapid drop – often into hypoglycemic range. This is called reactive hypoglycemia. The effect is even more pronounced when the individual consumes lots of simple sugars, like candy.

Hypoglycemia in new diabetics is surprisingly common. Eventually, though, the beta cells in the pancreas die or the insulin resistance gets so bad that the hypoglycemia side of hyperglycemia stops and there’s just hyperglycemia left.

Type II Diabetes, PCOS & Insulin?

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:28:41 +0000

I have type 2 diabetes due to insulin resistance and PCOS. If the weight gain is due to my body making too much insulin and not using it – will me being prescribed insulin to lower my blood sugar make me gain weight?
Let me rephrase the question… if I have PCOS and type II diabetes – should I be prescribed insulin to lower blood sugar? If so will it make me gain weight?

Unfortunately, dear lady, there may be some evidence that insulin can cause weight gain.

I would refer you to the page that Kelle has, obviously, misinterpreted. Nowhere on that page does it state that insulin does NOT cause weight gain.

The second page listed below states:

"In many people taking insulin, a common side effect is weight gain. Insulin can cause people to gain weight for several reasons. For example, insulin reduces the removal of glucose (sugar) from the body, and this excess glucose is stored as fat. However, taking insulin does not automatically mean you will gain weight. If you are taking insulin and notice that you are gaining weight, you may be able to control your weight with proper diet and exercise."

You’ll need to read further to see why it is believed that this can be the case.

The third url below states:

"Weight gain is a common side effect of insulin therapy for several reasons. The most widely accepted reason is that insulin therapy improves your body’s ability to store sugar. When your blood glucose levels get too high (which is why you need insulin therapy), your kidneys try to pick up the slack by excreting more glucose through the urine, thus eliminating sugar and calories before they can be used by the body or stored as fat."

This is NOT, however, a medical site, so you’ll need to bear that in mind.

You don’t state what your current medication regime includes, but from my own knowledge, and discussions with medical professionals, one drug that is often used, both in terms of controlling type 2 diabetes and aiding with women that suffer PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) is Metformin (Glucophage). One of the side-effects of this particular medication is that it encourages weight loss, though medical literature don’t encourage it being prescribed for such reasons.

Have you spoken to your doctor about this, and expressed your concerns? S/he may consider other options.

What is diabetes and why do you need to avoid so many things and food?

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:27:56 +0000

I have heard that people with diabetes should not take cold, flu or pain medications. Why is this? Also, I have heard that they should avoid exposure to high heat and humidity? Why is this? I also would love to know what it is exactly, and why you need to watch what you eat and use a meter?

Over the counter medicines can alter a diabetic’s blood sugar in negative ways, meaning that it can make their blood sugars higher.

Some OTC meds can actually interfere with insulin and other diabetic medications in a very bad way too.

Heat and humidity are good for diabetics, COLD is not! The cold slows down circulation in the extremities, which are already hampered by the damage caused by diabetes.

Heat & humidity increase circulation and combat dry skin (common in diabetics).

You watch what you eat because you are sensitive to carbohydrates, and especially all forms of sugar. Sugar raises the blood glucose levels very high and very quickly.

The higher the blood sugar, the more diabetic complications that a person can get (more damage to their bodies, cumulative damage).

The meter tells diabetics how they are reacting to the type and quantity of foods that they eat.
If they are on medication, insulin for example, the meter can tell if they need more insulin or need to eat to avoid death by hypoglycemia.

The goal is to keep blood sugars in the normal range as much as possible. Less risk of cardiovascular problems (AKA heart attack, stroke), and less damage to their eyes, kidneys, other organs, and extremities.

What are the sign of Insulin resistance?

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:20:52 +0000

What are the sign of Insulin resistance? ( i am 14 years old and i am pretty sure i have PCOS and i am not really over weight, but i am 5′1 and around 135 pounds and i have A REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLY hard time losing it but i heart that Metformin can help me lose weight, but only if i am insulin resistant)

Signs of Insulin Resistance:
1. Fatigue.
2. Brain fogginess and inability to focus.
3. High blood sugar.
4. Intestinal bloating.
5. Sleepiness, especially following a carbohydrate-heavy meal.
6. Weight gain, fat storage, difficulty losing weight. (This does not mean high weight, it means high body fat. There *is* a difference.)
7. Increased blood triglyceride levels.
8. Increased blood pressure.
9. Depression.

Metformin is not a weightloss drug. It’s a treatment for type 2 diabetes that just so happens to also make you lose weight if you’re insulin resistant and you switch to it *from* insulin. PCOS doesn’t necessarily mean you have diabetes. Some body types just happen to have a harder time losing weight than others. It sucks.

I know that nobody ever actually follows this advice, but ASK YOUR DOCTOR. Seriously, they know more about the drug, your history, and possible side effects. Just because you think you have PCOS, doesn’t mean you do. Just because you heard that Metformin can help you lose weight, it doesn’t mean it can. Tests have to be run, results have to be examined and compared. It’s far beyond the scope of what this website is capable of.

Those symptoms I listed above? Each one could be caused by a thousand different things that *aren’t* insulin resistance. Heck, I have six of the nine and don’t have it. I’m not even at risk for having it.

What is are the differences between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes?

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:20:14 +0000

What is are the differences between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes?

Main things Im looking for are:

Cause
Treatment
Lifestyle changes

Stuff like that..
Thanks =]

Cause:
-type 1 is usually autoimmune (body attacks insulin producing cells)
-type 2 is usually insulin resistance that the body can’t keep up with. That is, the body needs more and more insulin to fulfill normal insulin requirements. Not all with insulin resistance develop diabetes. Insulin resistance is usually due in part to excess weight and poor diet. Genetics play a role, but not in a clear "1 gene causes this" type of way. It’s likely the interations of many, many genes and environment.

treatment:
-type 1s need insulin, although it can be injected or with a pump
-type 2s vary. Ranges from diet and exercise alone (fairly rare) to various meds to insulin.

lifestyle changes:
-for both, diet is really important.
-type 1s have to pay really close attention to diet since how much insulin is given depends upon food intake. On the other hand, type 1s can adjust insulin depending upon food so it’s easier to "cheat" by just giving extra insulin. Requires a lot of planning–testing blood sugar frequently, snacking depending upon when insulin was given, blood sugars, etc. Exercise is important, but has to be planned for to avoid/minimize low blood sugars.
-type 2s: since most are overweight, diet and exercise are very important. Weight loss should be a goal and can even help to slow down the disease process.

Check on the American Diabetes Association website for more information.

How can I tell if my hamster has diabetes?

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:07:46 +0000

I have a male dwarf hamster. He is active he eats and drinks fine. I don’t think he has diabetes I just want to know for future reference.

I don’t think Hamster’s can get diabetes but the vet would give you the best answer!

Weight loss with pcos, hysterectomy, insulin resistance…?

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 03:21:56 +0000

I know someone who has had a difficult time losing weight due to PCOS, Hysterectomy and Insulin resistance. She has been on Metifast Diet and just recently joined the gym. She is in her mid 40s. She has sometimes 2 meals at a time due to waking up later. She also just had elbow surgery so she is on this crazy schedule, unfortunately, that makes her wake up every 4 hours with energy and she can’t go back to sleep.

So if you were to have some suggestions…what would you suggest?

Hello,

Last week I got a guide Steps to permanent Weight Loss. It was a very good guide. I can share it with you if you want it. It will definietly help you.

Contact me at cool.sandy8800 [at] gmail.com

Regards,

South Indian diet for insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes?

admin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:19:36 +0000

What is the healthy South Indian diet to cure insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes?

Fiber
The Indian Council of Medical Research suggests a daily intake of 25 to 35 grams of fiber. Fiber helps to naturally reduce glucose levels. In the Indian diet, high fiber foods include things like bran, whole grains, cereal, fresh fruit, dried fruit, raw vegetables, red beans, bean sprouts, mullet preparations, cluster beans, drumstick stems, lotus stems, curry leaves, pomegranate, green chilies, coriander, and cardomon seeds.Introduction to high fiber foods should be done slowly and progressively; increase the amount of fiber by five grams a day until you meet the 35 grams per day limit. Doing so will help you to avoid the feeling of a distended abdomen and problems with flatulence or bowel regularity.

Carbohydrates
The diabetic should consume 65 to 75 percent of daily calories in complex carbohydrates. This will ensure that blood sugar levels remain regulated. Complex carbohydrate consumption helps minimize blood cholesterol triglycerides and also improves digestive processes. Food sources for the diabetic include legumes, rice and whole wheat bread.

Proteins
25 percent of daily calories come from protein. Food sources include soy beans, cheese, chicken, egg whites, fish and leafy green vegetables. A diet that is excessive in protein can have harmful effects on the liver and kidneys, forcing them to work harder.

Channa
Channa dal is a legume that us a common part of the Indian diet; these legumes are revered for their anti-diabetic properties. Channa is fiber-rich and lower blood sugar levels naturally. It also reduces fasting blood sugar levels by thwarting the passage of sugars into the urine; this reduces one’s insulin requirements.

Cholesterol
The Indian diet for type 2 diabetes also recommends lowering cholesterol intake. High levels of cholesterol contribute to cardiovascular disease; no more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol should be eaten daily.Baking, steaming, roasting or grilling foods reduce cholesterol levels,rather than frying them. Consume low-fat or skim milk products instead of whole-milk varieties.